New Bill Limits When California Police Can Use Deadly Force

As a nation, we must address the
brutal reality and deadly consequences of police violence. We have seen far too
many people, particularly Black and brown people, killed by police. We have
seen too many families and communities shattered by loss and tragedy. Enough is
enough. We must limit when police officers can use deadly force and take
someone’s life.

Current laws in California fail to
protect against unnecessary killings by police officers. Officers here — and in
much of the country — can use deadly force regardless of whether it was
necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury. They can kill even when
alternatives to deadly force — like issuing a verbal warning, repositioning and
calling for backup, or using lower levels of force — are available, safe, and
feasible.

It is unacceptable that today in
California police officers can legally kill someone even when they don’t have
to.

Preserving and protecting human life
must be the top concern for law enforcement officers, and our laws should
likewise reflect that. Unfortunately, that is not the case. According to the
California Department of Justice, police officers killed 172 Californians in 2017 alone, and they did so with
startling racial disparities. Of the 172 people killed, more than two-thirds
were people of color. Of those who were completely unarmed when killed by
police, three quarters were people of color.

California police officers are not
only killing people of color at disproportionate rates; they are also killing
more people than most departments in the country. California police kill people
at a rate 37 percent higher than the national per capita average. A 2015 report
by the Guardian found that police in Kern County killed more
people per capita than in any other county in the U.S.

The course of action is clear.
California lawmakers must start by changing the standard for when
police can use deadly force.

That’s why the ACLU of California
affiliates — together with our partner organizations, including those led by
people directly impacted by police violence — are supporting AB 392: The
California Act to Save Lives. The legislation introduced on Wednesday
specifically addresses police violence by updating California’s deadly
use-of-force law.

AB 392 is a common-sense bill that
is modeled after best practices already in place in some departments in the
U.S. We know these practices work to reduce killings by police. As with these
other bills, AB 392 will clarify that police officers can use deadly force only
when there are no alternatives that would prevent death or serious bodily
injury. Officers’ conduct leading up to a shooting will also be considered when
determining whether deadly force is justified — not just the moment the officer
pulls the trigger.

The California Department of Justice
recently released a report recommending that the
Sacramento Police Department update its use-of-force guidelines following the
shooting death of Stephon Clark in Sacramento. Their guidelines align closely
with AB 392. Specifically, they call for Sacramento police to more clearly
define when force is authorized, require that officers use de-escalation
whenever possible, and mandate that officers exhaust all reasonably available
alternatives before using deadly force.

Research shows that officers at
agencies with stricter use-of-force policies kill fewer people and are less likely to be
killed or seriously injured themselves. After Seattle implemented a new
use-of-force policy that contains some of the same key elements that AB 392
does, a study by a federal court monitor showed that the policy significantly
reduced mid-level and serious uses of force without any increase in injuries to
officers or the crime rate.

There is no reason for California
lawmakers to shy away from establishing stricter policies on deadly use of
force that can prevent unnecessary shootings, keep officers safe, and ensure
public safety. AB 392 is urgently needed because every day that goes by without
addressing California’s epidemic of police violence is another day that a
police officer may violently take another life.

Lizzy Buchen is a Legislative Advocate for ACLU of Northern California

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